Friday, August 29, 2014

Staunton, August 29 – Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine highlights a reality many do not want to talk about:
Vladimir Putin failed to be able to deal with Ukraine “via softer measures”
because of the steadfastness and resistance of the Ukrainians and consequently
was forced to send in regular Russian army units, according to Andrey Zubov.

Putin thought he could achieve his
goals in a way that would avoid new sanctions by the West by drawing on the
support of separatists. But because of Ukrainian resistance, the situation did
not develop in the ways that the Kremlin leader had hoped, thus forcing him to
act in other ways.

This is the second time Putin has
had to change course, Zubov says. Earlier in August, he changed the leaderships
in Donetsk and Luhansk when it became obvious that the regimes there could not
block the Ukrainian advance. Now, even that has proved not to be enough, and he
has had to send in regular army units.

This shows, the Moscow foreign
policy specialist says that the Kremlin leader’s “possibilities have been
exhausted.” And Putin needs a new and quick victory for domestic reasons as
well: at present, “dissatisfaction inside Russia is growing,” given the losses
Russian forces have suffered. “All this puts the situation at the edge,” he
says.

Zubov does not say in this interview,
although he has mentioned it elsewhere, that Putin’s real failure in Ukraine
reflects his unwillingness or inability to understand that Ukrainians are a
separate and distinct nation and that Ukraine is a separate and independent
country.The impressive Ukrainian
resistance should have taught him and many others those basic truths.